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Joe Nocera

Taylor Branch's lengthy essay "The Shame of College Sports" caused a stir when it ran in The Atlantic in October. Hands were wrung. Pundits from ESPN and Sports Illustrated weighed in for and against. But despite the issue's Occupy-worthy points of contention—a huge reservoir of cash is shared among a small elite, while the low-level workers who actually create the goods are exploited for their labor and deprived of their rights—it hasn't gained much traction among liberals, much less the average sports fan.

Joe Nocera, a columnist for The New York Times, has taken up the standard, though, exposing the NCAA's bullying ways in his twice-weekly column. "Coaches, athletic directors, conference presidents, the NCAA itself—they all take advantage of the teenagers who are making them rich, knowing their young charges have no recourse," he wrote recently. The discussion runs from 5:30 to 7 p.m.; admission is free. —Marc Maximov